In response to the indictment of former President Donald Trump last week, Assemblymember Monique Chandler-Waterman, has once again spotlighted her assembly bill A5719, called New York No Citizen Is Above the Law Act, introduced last year. She aims to get the law passed in the state and codify that no person, celebrity, or high elected official is above the law once they’ve committed a crime.
“The highest office in our country cannot be a shield for criminal behavior. Donald Trump and his supporters believe being President protects him from being held accountable for alleged felony crimes,” said Waterman in a statement. “I reject that belief because no one is above the law.”
The bill states that if a sitting US President is accused of a crime before or during their time in office, the clock that determines a statute of limitation freezes until the end of their term, regardless of party affiliation. Waterman first introduced it in 2022 in direct response to the idea that a president couldn’t be tried or held accountable, her office said.
Since the bulk of Trump’s alleged crimes occurred within New York state, he and any official would be impacted if the bill were to pass.
Media and onlookers showed up in droves to Manhattan criminal court to watch Trump’s historic arraignment under the leadership of District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg on Tues, April 4. Dueling protests between New York City elected officials and Trump supporters waged outside. Among them were Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Councilmembers Chi Osse and Sandy Nurse, and US Rep Jamaal Bowman for Bragg, blowing whistles at US Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“As the disgraced former president faces his first arraignment for his many alleged crimes, the people calling his indictment an injustice and attacking District Attorney Bragg are among the same who called the District Attorney ‘soft on crime’ for his efforts to combat mass incarceration, said Williams.
“Williams referenced an existing double standard in the criminal justice system for white and wealthy individuals that corrupts the process. He said placing the former president above the law while working to rollback reforms in no way benefits historically marginalized communities. Pointedly, he added that Trump supporters who claim that the justice system is being unfair to Trump are among the same “fighting even now to claw back bail reform and incarcerate more low-income Black and Brown New Yorkers.
“Imagine if they had the same outrage on behalf of the thousands of New Yorkers held pre-trial, sometimes for years, on Rikers Island,” said Williams. “Imagine if the same passion had been brought in defense of the wrongly-accused former Central Park Five as is being brought for the man who argued they should be executed.”
Nurse said she also supported the driving force of accountability behind the bill. She helped organize the whistle protest against Greene.
“Donald Trump lives and breathes a circus. It’s something he cultivates and works hard to achieve. Chaos, drama, and violence are his bread and butter,” said Nurse.
Waterman’s office said they expect more pushback as they reintroduce the bill this session but they are ready to persist.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.